Patriotism and tradition echo in Forest Hills. In recent times, on the
weekend following Memorial Day, Forest Hills Gardens organizes a
celebration known as Children’s Day at Flagpole Green, which features
decorations, face painting, cotton candy, hot dogs, raffles, and games.

Historically,
music has played a significant role in Forest Hills Gardens
celebrations, so attendees can expect to rejoice to the sounds of John
Philip Sousa, a late American composer, who is noted for his patriotic
and military marches.

Stepping back in time, Forest Hills
Gardens witnessed the light of very elaborate 4th of July commemorations
on the actual date. The teens are nearly a century ago, so let’s place
our modern minds into the shoes our ancestors walked, and stand in the
footsteps of triumph in our country’s earliest planned garden community.
Station Square, Village Green, and Olivia Park were classic sites of
rich tradition, and exist in a pristine state to this very day.

July
4, 1914 marked the Gardens’ first annual Independence Day celebration.
Since the population of the community was minimal, and Forest Hills at
large was a small town, the first celebration was noted for its
camaraderie.

Greenway Terrace became an al fresco dancing
pavilion, which signified the first step of solidarity. A highlight of
the second celebration in 1915 was the Pageant of Colonial Times in
Station Square, the dedication of the Piping Pan bird fountain (cherub
blowing a flute) in Olivia Park with Baroness von Rottenthall’s
interpretative dancing, and the Fourth of July Committee’s acquisition
of a silver cup for annual tennis matches, which began that year.

The
Forest Hills Gardens Bulletin defined the success of teamwork through
organizations and residents in 1916, which read, “The Fourth of July
Celebration at the Gardens is primarily, yes wholly, a community affair.
It is the people’s day – a memorial of the first great test of unity in
this country, and it is interpreted here in the Gardens as an
expression of organized community effort.”

That same year,
attendees participated in the dedication of a 108-foot flagpole on
Village Green, with an inscribed bronze collar at the base. The official
flag of the Forest Hills Gardens was first to be raised on the 4th of
July.

An allegory called The Happy Stranger was presented in the
natural amphitheater-style Olivia Park. The Red Cross Society generated
proceeds by selling ice cream, Cracker Jacks, lemonade, peanuts,
popcorn, and lollipops under the Square’s archways.

In great
anticipation, Gardens residents decorated their homes, and the Committee
on Decorations and Illuminations applied their touch to Station Square
and Village Green. The iconic Forest Hills Inn offered special menus and
decorations. The Inn’s Tea Garden was boasted as a particular
attraction, since children of the entire community were treated as
guests to a party of their own.

One of Forest Hills’ most
notable 4th of July moments took place atop the steps of Station
Square’s Long Island Railroad Station in 1917, where onlookers heard
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt’s One-Hundred Percent American Speech. He
pleaded for allegiance to the America of Washington and Lincoln, and
thousands cheered in response.

A miniature Greek temple was
erected in Olivia Park, which functioned as a stage setting for
attendees witnessing the light of Ralph Renaud’s The Masque of Liberty.

A
1918 highlight was U.S. Senator Calder’s speech in Station Square. That
year had a more sacred feel, since wounded soldiers and sailors of WWI
were honored over dinner at the Church-In-The-Gardens. Students of Louis
Chalif’s famed dance school performed in Olivia Park.

The
success of the U.S. and her allies played a pivotal role in the 1919
commemoration. An excerpt from the Forest Hills Gardens Bulletin
captured the spirit.

“Nothing was more impressive than the
raising of the Flag by a member of the old Rifle Corps while the people
assembled sang the Star-Spangled Banner, and nothing was more skillfully
done than the reading of the Independence Day Proclamation of the
Citizens by the Town Crier, Harvey Warren, in old New England costume.
Captain Horace F. Pomeroy, chairman of the celebration committee, spoke
of the history of the old Rifle Club – the first military organization
of Forest Hills – and then introduced the Rev. Rowland S. Nichols,
Chaplain of the Rifle Club who spoke briefly and offered prayer.”

The Forest Hills Rifle Club was the first case of loyalty locally, and its revival for the celebration was integral.

Beginning
at 9:30 a.m., Village Green hosted flag-raising exercises, the
Community Chorus sang patriotic airs, and the Rifle Club reunion took
place. Station Square hosted political addresses at 11 a.m. Tennis
matches took place at the Forest Hills Inn Courts at 12:30 p.m., which
featured the Inns vs. the Outs. The Inns lived in the Forest Hills Inn,
and the Outs lived throughout the Forest Hills Gardens.

At 1
p.m., attendees enjoyed children’s games, as well as the French Doll
Dance, where female dancers were assisted by the Boy Scouts. Games
included yard dashes for children, grand tilting matches for parents, a
kiddie car race, a paper fight, a sack race, a baby carriage race for
fathers, a pillow fight, an optic contest for adults, a half-mile relay,
and dressing and obstacle races.

At 4:30 p.m., The Golden Day
allegory by Ralph Renaud took stage at Olivia Park, where locals and
talented students of the Chalif Normal School of Dancing performed in a
sylvan setting. The play featured the harmonious Butterfly Dance, The
Dances of The Summer Nocturne, and The Song of The Birds. The setting
was complemented by an orchestra of strings and a vocal interlude.

At
7:30 p.m., under incandescent lights and electric streamers with flags
and pennants, nearly 3,000 attendees would enjoy the 9th Coast Artillery
Band Concert in Station Square, followed by the flamboyant Costume
Dance at 8:30 p.m. Popular costumes were the Pierrot, Pierrette and Yama
Yama.

Artists designed highly stylized 4th of July posters
annually. Herman Rountree’s 1916 poster depicted a clown and a mule with
astonished children in period clothing in the backdrop. It read, “Yes
Mule – It’s The Greatest Show on Earth.”

B. Hooper’s “Coming
July 4th” poster from 1916 depicted a clown-like child rejoicing on a
circus elephant bearing a humanly expression of wisdom and holding high a
4th of July flag.

Rountree’s 1917 poster depicted the Forest
Hills Inn and Station Square as the backdrop of Village Green, where
bystanders witnessed the raising of the flag. That same year, another
one of Rountree’s posters captured the masquerade feel of Station Square
with the train station in the backdrop. On various levels of
creativity, beauty was indeed in the detail!

A typical
celebration called for glorious expression, as in the case of Gertrude
Knevels’ Station Square – A Fourth Of July Impression, which read:

Old Glory from the Tower looks down. To bless the folly of the town,Lights, laughter, color everywhere –Wise folks like happy children there,At play in Station Square.Far over all the clear night skySpreads tender hands – What hurries by? – It is the train that grumbling goes,Bearing the world and all its woesAway from Station Square!

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MISSION STATEMENT

Rego-Forest Preservation Council seeks to preserve and commemorate the architectural and cultural history of Rego Park, Forest Hills, and adjacent neighborhoods of Queens, NY. We work with citizens, affiliate organizations, and property owners on local, city, state, & federal levels. Avenues include Individual Landmarks, Historic Districts, Rezonings, State & National Register properties and districts; to ultimately provide funding assistance for restoration and adaptive reuse, safeguard community character, and convey historic pride for current and future generations.